Rail Budget: Mukul Roy rolls back rail fare hike

Moneycontrol Bureau

Newly elected Railway Minister Mukul Roy has once again underscored the weak position of the UPA government. Making changes in the Railway Budget, Roy has rolled back of passenger fare hike in the sleeper, suburban, ordinary second class, AC Chair Car and AC 3-tier classes.

"The proposal to increase hike will impact the 'aam admi'. I intend to give relief by not increasing fare in any of these classes," he said.

The rollback was expected as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee disapproved the hike announced by Trivedi reasoning out 'common man' woes.

"The proposal to increase fare by 2 paise per km, 3 paise per km and 5 paise per km in second class suburban and non-suburban and Sleeper class is a huge drain on the pocket of the masses. Similarly, increase in the fare of AC Chair Car and AC 3-tier, which is now patronised by the middle class, is also quite severe. I intend to give relief to the already over burdened common man by not effecting any increase in these classes," he announced in the Lok Sabha while replying to the Railway Budget.

Roy did not make any change in the fares of AC 2-tier, First Class and AC I. The Railway Minister also put on hold the proposal for expansion of the Railway Board. He said that the Railways intend to launch an aggressive drive to mop up resources and upgrade safety measures.

Earlier presenting the Rail Budget on March 14, Trivedi had increased the passenger fares by 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class; 3 paise per km for mail/express second class; 5 paise per km for sleeper class; 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car, AC 3-tier and First Class; 15 paise per km for AC 2-tier and 30 paise per km for AC I. Even the price of platform tickets has been raised to Rs 5 from Rs 3.

Roy was sworn in on Tuesday and replaced Dinesh Trivedi as the Railway Minister.

Key takeaways

• To run railway economically and safely.Recruitment of 1 Lakh people in 2012-13.
• All vacancies in safety areas will be filled up very soon
• Unmanned level crossing will be removed, we are vigorously working towards that goal
• Intend to launch aggressive drive to mop up resources for railways

Nasrin Sultana

nasrin.sultana@network18online.com